"Then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and lo! on every visage a black veil!"
Internet Quotation: "The writer of these lines, who was a child at the time, remembers dimly the sensation the book produced, and the little shudder with which people alluded to it, as if a peculiar horror were mixed with its attractions." - Henry James
Summary: On his death bed, Father Hooper is suddenly granted a moment of unexplainable strength, rising up to hold down his veil and admonish those around him before falling silent. As the story's closing point, this scene is particularly powerful, given Hooper's heaving breath that "rattled in his throat." We see in his final moments the power that this symbol, the black veil, has on both Hooper and those around him.
The second quotation comes from the master storyteller Henry James, speaking about The Scarlet Letter. I think this quotation could be used for more than just that book; it certainly could be talking about this week's story, The Minister's Black Veil. Hawthorne's finest works are these chilling Gothic tales that send frightful shivers through readers, even today. Henry James, being Henry James, said this, only better than I ever could.
My Ideas: What a strange power Hawthorne has to enthrall with tales such as "The Minister's Black Veil". Despite being first published in 1836, and thereby setting the precedent for his future stories revolving around sin and Puritanism, the story remains relevant and haunting; they may be even more chilling today, given just how dark our own black veils are, with all of modern life's myriad and instantaneous sins.
Not only that has the story held up from that perspective, but also in its power to captivate someone like me, with no religious tendencies whatsoever, in what is, as said from the beginning, a distinctly religious parable. The black veil, as a symbol for the secret sin we all hide away, is sinister even for a devout atheist like myself. God or not, the stuff we hide away from everybody is dark and dank, and if it did get out, it would be the source of interminable anxiety.
My main question for this text is what the germ, to use a term of Henry James, is for wearing the veil. Obviously, as a minister such a striking symbol can spread a profound message through your laity quickly. But is there anything beyond the simply ministerial explanation, something more than Father Hooper trying to be the best reverend he can be? I've read that Poe felt that an adulterous affair with the dead lady in the story was the cause of the veil, but I'm not sure I agree with that reading. There is the reference to the spirits of the young lady and Father Hooper walking hand-in-hand, but there isn't anything beyond this implying that there was some adultery committed. Also, the image of the two walking hand-in-hand doesn't seem like a proper visual for what would have been for Hooper a sin so foul it led him to the hidden life behind the veil.
I view the veil as an ambiguous sin that we will never really know. But I also think it is a way for Father Hooper to block out life itself. By donning the veil, he is suddenly granted a silent, physically unencumbered life. He does his duty as minister, and then retires to his study and mind, presumably alone after his fiancee leaves him for not taking off the veil. The veil acts a justification for his solitude, which perhaps is what he wanted all along. But it also appears to have a negative affect, allowing him more time to mull over the thoughts of whatever sins he has committed. It destroys him from the inside out, with these thoughts about his sins perhaps being the cause of the "feverish turns" and the rattling cough that ultimately sapped the little strength he had left. The veil cuts him off from "cheerful brotherhood and woman's love." It locked him away for a lifetime, alone, dark, and gloomy until finally he was taken away by his Creator.
This could be true for all of us, physical veil or not. How many people have you actually divulged your entire self to, after all? I understand that there are secrets that I contain that only I know, and I can admit that freely, even here on this public blog. But will I ever tell them to anyone? My parents? My best friend? My significant other? I highly doubt that I ever will, following in the footsteps of Father Hooper, which effectively cuts myself off from pure connection. I may not go quite so far as Father Hooper, but there is forever a barrier between the deepest secrets I keep and the people I love. It is just human nature to put one up.
Just as an aside, perhaps bride's veils should be black instead of white, given this story's message. After all, the symbolism of moving past your partner's deepest, darkest sins to see and love the person they really are is stronger than penetrating the pure white veil representative of their... well, that one's easy enough to figure out on your own, I suppose. Just a thought.
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